Discussion»Questions»Health and Wellness» There is a sound/solid reason why intermarriage/procreation among close relatives is illegal. How much of that goes on anyway?
There is a sound/solid reason why intermarriage/procreation among close relatives is illegal. How much of that goes on anyway?
The chance of giving birth to mental defectives is higher. Perhaps that accounts for the folks who believe in these nutjob conspiracies. Have any of them ever been tested for mental competence?
My understanding of the science and history regarding inbreeding is:
1) Claims about particular groups engaging in it are almost always evidence-free bigotry
2) The problems associated with it are much less common than popular lore would have us believe
As for conspiracy theorists being inbred, I am not aware of any evidence to support the claim, and I think the non-empirical beliefs of such people can be adequately explained by other factors such as motivated cognition, authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation.
I take OldSchool's point and i don't have a judgemental stance on it but in truth, from talking at length to a number of those who practice it... it is definitely not problem free.. There is imo a LOT or a large element of coercion and imposing one's will on children.. and there are many examples of the attentions being unwelcome... of girls running away or coming back to shoot their father etc...
I have talked to families where it was done in a non abusive way.. but i have talked to many more where there was clear evidence of coercion and of the parents and other relatives who they shared their children with sexually that it was done NOT in the best interests of the children, particularly girls... if for no other reason we HAVE to consider that when it comes to contraception.. making a little girl of 8 take the contraceptive pill is NOT in her best interests.... a family i talked to told me that their young daughter was fitted with a coil while still a child.. argue the wrongs and rights of this but pregnancy is a real issue that could cause significant harm as is making a child take contraception just so older men can have sex withthem... OK so we werent talking about children here but lets not bury our heads in the sane.. when you are talking family sex it DOES involve underage kids...
What happens in adults if often their own choice.. but don't discount that if this had been happening since childhood there would be a strong element of conditioning... and perhaps growing to feel that as women their place in the world is to provide men with sex..... but there is still the inbreeding aspect... and like it or not there IS a very real genuine cause for concern... we know what happens in animals.. doubling up on bad genes, heart defects, cancer risk etc... and mental problems... look at the Egyptian pharaohs.. We can argue all we like but the fact is that close relatives breeding is associated with an increased risk of not only physical and mental deformities but increased risk of social emotional problems too..
I have pedigree cats... many are inbred... and it's well known there are problems but the breeders who do it dismiss this and even call it line breeding to try to deflect criticism... but fact is in my chosen breed... a cat that should live to 20 rarely lives beyond 3 or 4 in America and in the UK the same breed, I@ve I get why people defend it... but... from what i have seen, ( and i have asked questions and listened genuinely) it's not a good idea... not managed to keep a cat past 11.. most die by the time they are 8 from poor health and poor breeding.
@DTD -- I think both of our answers are valid, because we are discussing slightly different things.
Your answer addresses coercive inbreeding at the family or small group level. What I was referring to is American cultural stereotypes about certain groups of rurual people being heavily inbred. Much like Napoleon's alleged shortness was actually British propaganda, the stereotype of the stupid inbred country hick in America was/is largely just prejudicial nonsense.
Similarly, when discussing inbreeding, it actually CAN BE beneficial, because favorable mutations can propogate much more quickly. In proto-human societies (typically on the order of 150 people), the whole society was heavily inbred. One hundred fifty people is NOT a large gene pool. The problem comes in with EXCESSIVE inbreeding. For example, in purebred dogs/cats, issues pop up because a few prized champion exemplars of the breed end up being the genetic basis for the majority of subsequent generations. Then those generations interbreed and keep the genetic diversity very narrow. Similarly, if people breed with very close relatives for multiple generations, that's when we start seeing things like hemophilia in royal families.
I thank you for your reply, because it does bring up a perspective I was not aware of.
This post was edited by OldSchoolTheSKOSlives at December 9, 2016 3:00 PM MST
Fair enough and I am able to see your side too.. lol I still don't agree that it can be beneficial tho :P But mainly that perspective comes from cats.. one of mine is inbred.. a brother sister mating and it was deliberate.. now this cat happens to be my oldest living of this breed but he's mightily prone to health issues, and i know from the cat world that it's common, as i say in america this breed arent living longer than 4 years and in the UK it's about 8-9. And these aren't necessarily repeat line breedings... just too many ad hoc ones.. and often to get features.. huge ears, etc.. No point having huge ears if you don't live long imo.. Odd and not interesting to non cat people I know but I actually have an American cat.. he was given to me by a breeder who like me hated inbreeding and cared about what it was doing to the breed. The breeders last actions were to get this cat to me.. and his dying wish was that my cat be used as a valuable outcross in the UK...
I had a dog, a Rottweiler, who wasnt inbred but was, as you said a product of almost every female of a generation being bred to the top champion.. she was a fabulous dog.. sweet as heck but she died way too soon from cancer.... Aren't they saying that tasmanian devils are dying because of cancer due to the small gene pool... i think there always were dangers even with that.. hence the capturing of outcrosses...
I think a small gene pool, which pretty much summed up most of our ancestors is probably different to close relatives breeding... in the past tribes would often fight and capture enemies women and children to use as outcrosses.... I guess that's my main point... I don't have any moral objections as such other than that it's often very fraught with coercion and inequalities of power..
Depends on the state. Some allow first cousin marriage. Others allow it depending on age and relationship. Others there's a legal obligation not to procreate.
Some states allow first cousin marriages. Some with sterility and/or age requirements. Some states only penalize parent/child relations and others have no penalty if the actors are over 18. Some states also penalize non-blood familial sex relations. Other states you can get life in prison for any kind of incestuous relation.
B.H.Wilson 